Chapter 383

Chapter 383
“What the hell is this?! Lilian got married? To whom? Since when? And what happened to our father? Did she know he was missing?”
Josh's head was spinning with a whirlwind of questions. What the hell was going on there?
He swallowed his anger and tried to ask politely:
“What do you mean, little sister?” Please explain it to me better...“
Lilian didn't answer. Instead, she turned to the security guard.
”Charlie, please help him lie down on the couch and call an ambulance."
Despite her intense dislike of Josh, Lilian still felt a twinge of pity. Not necessarily for him, but for his mother. She knew that, deep down, Juci would suffer if something irreparable happened to her son, and Lilian didn't want to cause more pain to the woman she had just freed.
Charlie immediately complied with the request, signaling to two servants to help lift Josh's massive body.
“AAARGHHH...”
Josh's cry of pain echoed through the room as they moved him to the three-seater sofa.
Lilian grimaced, pretending to clean her ear with her little finger, bored by the drama.
“Can you stop crying like a hungry baby, Josh?” she said dismissively. “A man of your size making such a fuss... How embarrassing.”
The screams gradually subsided, replaced by a tear-filled look of hatred.
“That hurts, you crazy woman! You've never felt pain like this... you don't know what it's like!” Josh retorted between moans.
Lilian let out a short, cold laugh. She leaned slightly toward him.
“You're wrong, brother. That's exactly how I felt when you beat me in the past. Or when your victims begged you to stop.” She looked at him with undisguised disgust. “I just want you to feel it too. To remind you how cruel you were.”
Josh opened his mouth to call her a bitch again, to say she would pay, but the words died in his throat when he met her piercing gaze. It was so sharp that a shiver ran down his spine.
He swallowed hard, clenched his teeth, and remained silent, suppressing his rage.
Silence fell over the room. No one said anything, but the tension was palpable. Lilian kept her eyes fixed on him, as if punishing her brother's soul with her gaze alone.
Shortly thereafter, Carlos' tired voice broke the silence.
“Josh...”
The way his grandfather pronounced his name carried the weight of overwhelming disappointment. There were no shouts, just a deep sadness as he looked at his only grandson.
“You've been spoiled by me and your father your whole life. And this is the result.” Carlos shook his head. “Just because you're the only grandson who carries my name, you've become arrogant.”
Carlos paused, taking a deep breath, before delivering the final blow:
“You know what, Josh? I have no more hope in you. Nor in your father.”
The sentence hit Josh like a death sentence.
“Has Grandpa given up on me? No... that can't be true. Nooo...!”
He wanted to wake up from this nightmare, kneel down and beg, but the pain pinned him to the sofa. All he could do was stare at his grandfather with a miserable look, his lips trembling.
"Remember this, Josh: what you hear about the company may be a lie. Do you still believe that the Arbex Group is trustworthy? You're wrong, my son,“ Carlos continued, his voice hardening like a warning. ”Instead of waiting to inherit an empire that no longer belongs to us, you should have followed in your sister's footsteps and become independent! But you failed even when I gave you a small branch to lead." Carlos sighed. The disappointment was longstanding.
He regretted not interfering in Leandro's upbringing of the boy.
“What about your little sister, Lilian?” Carlos pointed at her. “She didn't depend on the company, or even her parents' money, to achieve the success she has today. She built her own empire without us knowing, just with skill and intelligence.”
Josh, his eyebrows furrowed, tried to look at Lilian. He saw her smile slightly, checking her cell phone as if he meant nothing to her.
Curiosity consumed him.
Why didn't he know anything about his sister? What success was this? Did she have a husband? Did she have a business empire?!
But despite the questions, he needed to prioritize his grandfather's forgiveness.
“Grandpa...” Josh finally spoke, his voice hoarse and inaudible. He swallowed hard to moisten his throat. “I'm sorry... I'm really sorry. I disappointed you, my father, and my mother. I know I was wrong. What I did in the past was because I wanted to help, but I'm stupid... terribly stupid.”
Carlos was surprised to hear the admission of guilt, but he still doubted its sincerity.
The patriarch let out a deep sigh. He decided to explain the harsh truth, hoping that the shock would bring his grandson back to reality, just as it had happened with Leandro.
“Josh, I'm sure you've heard that your uncle is no longer the CEO of the Arbex Group,” Carlos said.
Josh nodded slightly, afraid.
“Y-Yes...”
“Not only did they dismiss your uncle, but also your father and your other uncle,” Carlos added.
The words were enough to leave Josh in shock.
“WHAT? They fired my father and my uncle too?”
Carlos Arbex nodded, confirming the nightmare.
“Yes, my grandson, yes... Not only were they fired, but your uncles no longer own shares in the company. In short: the owner of the Arbex Group has changed. The Arbex family is no longer the majority shareholder.”
Josh felt as if lightning had struck his head. Even his uncles and his father had lost their shares? It was hard to believe. How was that possible?
“Grandpa, are you trying to scare me?”
Carlos shook his head with a sad smile.
"I don't have the time or energy for that, Josh. What I'm telling you now is the cold, hard truth.
So get that idea of depending on the company out of your head.
Slowly, all of his father's strange behavior over the last few days began to flash through Josh's mind like a revealing movie:
His father interrupting the search for his missing mother.
Firing his personal assistant, just to make him jealous.
Refusing to see him.
Crying silently, locked in his room.
And finally, the sudden departure from home, without taking his cell phone, leaving behind his driver and assistant without a trace.
After hearing his grandfather's words, Josh's mind cleared.
He realized that his father had nothing left to be proud of—no position, no power, not even his wife. Everything was gone, and he had decided to jump ship.